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Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Bandcamp Picks - Venomous Concept, Die Hexe, Pink Mass, Black Shiva

Shane Embury and Kevin Sharp, seen here with their OTHER grindcore supergroup

Grindcore supergroup Venomous Concept return with their third and strongest album to date. Kick Me Silly; VC3 sees them expanding on their Poison Idea fetish and veering remarkably close to recent Napalm albums (though with Shane Embury as lead songwriter, maybe that was inevitable). With the members being involved in a ridiculous number of other bands, the necessity of one more is debatable; this album must owe its existence to nothing more than love. [$9.99]

Toronto's Die Hexe sent me their self-titled debut EP, and I'm glad that they did, even if it's not the kind of thing I usually listen to: Emotive hardcore with an ear for melody, at times going "post" like a lot of modern hardcore does. But they wear their hearts on their sleeves like the oldest and truest hardcore bands. The EP is available as a "name your price" download.

Whatever that is on the sleeves of New Jersey's Pink Mass is probably not heart. Their debut full-length Slvt Kvlt is a brutal hatefuck of death, thrash, and grind that's quick and to the point, and will leave you either satisfied or guilt-ridden. Just make sure you wash your hands after. [£7 GBP]

Geneva's Black Shivacan't decide whether to rage or to party, and so they alternate between both. When Evil Lives flips a switch between turgid powerviolence a la Nails and Disfear's rock and roll crust - HM-2s set to "chainsaw" the whole time. The integration of the two styles isn't seamless, but it is an idea that apparently hasn't dawned on Trap Them or Blackbreath yet. [12 CHF]